Several weeks ago, Tim Kaine stayed the April 8 execution of Edward Bell. The governor rescheduled the date for July 24, by which time, he explained, the U.S. Supreme Court was expected to rule on the constitutionality of capital punishment by lethal injection. The Supreme Court's decision to hear a challenge to lethal injection in Kentucky effectively suspended lethal injections everywhere.

Republicans reacted to Kaine's stay with scorn. They accused him of breaking his 2005 campaign promise not to interfere with the state's death penalty laws despite his personal opposition to the ultimate sanction. Critics targeted Kaine's integrity.

On Wednesday the Supreme Court upheld the Kentucky procedure. Kaine responded by lifting his suspension of lethal injections in Virginia. He did what he said he would do. His original stay did not violate his pledge, either. The naysayers were wrong.

The story teaches a political lesson: Virginia Republicans need to behave. A reputation as Grumpy Ornery Partisans could prove lethal to their electoral prospects.